Haunted By The Past
by Woody K
Summary: Peach looked for Mario to apologize for hurting his feelings and bring him home, saying that everything was Bowser's fault...and that she was also scared because of a power hungry ex-boyfriend that took her and everyone else for granted. Request from ultimateCCC.


Ever since the moon incident, it was no secret that Mario and Peach were on unbelievably horrible terms. After the blonde almost left the red plumber stranded on the moon, she acted abhorrently cruel towards Mario, making him let his pain, anger and sadness consume him as a result.

The fact that Peach told him things that made him feel worthless and useless caused Mario's heartbreak to evolve into insane hatred and prompted his rash decision to leave the Mushroom Kingdom forever. Everyone tried to persuade him to reconsider, but he wouldn't budge. He became such a cantankerous hothead as he continued to shoot down their attempts to patch things up between him and the woman he thought cared about him.

Mario put his foot down by violently screaming that he quits and will never help Peach or anyone else ever again. He roared death threats to those that pestered him any further and that he hates the Mushroom Kingdom and everyone in it. Worse, he even gave Peach the nastiest outburst of all by saying that she should never be anyone's friend, going so far as to make her cry by angrily telling her that she is not, never was and never will be his friend, before severing all connections with her, selling his house and filling the Odyssey with his possesions packed in boxes and suitcases as he moved far, far away.

His angry speeches devastated everyone and so they instead sent him going away presents and cakes, but he indignantly threw them all away, thinking that Peach laced them with poison, rigged all the farewell gifts with explosives and set up traps meant to kill him. The scorned plumber stated that everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom will quickly act as if nothing's happened once he was gone.

Mario's new home was in Isle Delfino, he decided that was where he would stay forever and comfortably retire, ensuring no one would ever push him away again, steal his stuff or be mean to him every again. He also severed all connections with the outside world, deleting his social media profiles and even making sure his phone would never ring. As the years went by with nothing but relaxtion, peace and quiet, Mario felt like his soul could finally rest.

* * *

Back at the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach had locked herself in her bedroom, the shades were drawn, so the room was dark. She was incredibly miserable and catatonic after Mario was ten times nastier as he harshly cut ties with her. He did so with the anger of a trillion Bowsers, maybe even a quadrillion.

How Mario went so far as to actually declare Peach sentenced to the enemy zone, call her ugly and even wish death on her made Peach contemplate suicide a few times, everyone else thought about killing themselves too. She broke his heart, so he retaliated by breaking her spirit so brutally that even Bowser giving up kidnapping her forever couldn't convince the despondent blonde that things would get better eventually.

Contrary to Mario's assumptions, Peach and the residents of the Mushroom Kingdom did not get over him abandoning them. Everyone turned to fear and despair, but Peach was perhaps the most devasted of all, she had not seen him in years. The princess spent her time miserably lounging in her room, sadly looking over all the media coverage of how what would have been a happy ending for them quickly turned into the worst ending ever.

Since then, Peach isolated herself, laying in bed all day as she spent her days tearfully reminiscing through news articles and videos about the day their relationship came to a violent end. After she stole Mario's ship and tried to go home without him, the days that followed were plagued by angry exchanges, public acts of violence and even attempts of defamation and murder. The princess even relived the last cringeworthy words he said to her before his permanent departure.

* * *

After Mario packed up, he screamed, "Goodbye, Peach! Goodbye forever, you ungrateful twerp!"

"For the last time, it was not my fault!"

Mario yelled with fiery eyes and red skin, "My God! I can't stand any more of this! First, you spurn me for yourself and then you try to abandon me! You chew people up and then you spit them out again...I loved you...do you hear me? I loved you! And what did it get me? Yeah, I'll tell you: a big nothing. You're like a sponge. You take, take, take and drain others of their love and emotion. Yeah, well, I've had enough! You could just done it all to Bowser alone and spare me the anger, BUT NOOOOOOOOO, YOU JUST HAD TO LEAVE ME TO DIE AND SAY MEAN THINGS TO ME EVER SINCE THE RIDE HOME, REFUSING TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE CRAP I WENT THROUGH ON MY LATEST ADVENTURE OR EVEN THE TIMES THAT I ALMOST DIED! WELL GUESS WHAT?! I HATE YOU TOO, YOU INSENSITIVE AND MISANTHROPIC ZEROINE! YOU WILL NEVER SEE ME AGAIN, LITTLE MISS UNSYMPATHETIC MONSTER!"

"Mario, will you pleas-"

"SHUT UP, BRAT! I KNOW! HAVING FEELINGS FOR A NASTY HEARTBREAKER LIKE YOU WAS A HUGE MISTAKE! I THOUGHT YOU CARED ABOUT ME, BUT I AM NOT BLIND ANYMORE, SO FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO ABUSE AND EVENTUALLY BETRAY BY 2049, YOU EVIL VILLAINESS AND UGLY HAG! CLEARLY, YOU WILL FORGET THAT I EXISTED IN NANOSECONDS!"

"I am tryi-"

"TRYING TO WHAT?! RUIN MY LIFE MORE?! NOT GONNA HAPPEN! DO THE WORLD A FAVOR AND KILL YOURSELF! LUIGI, DAISY, ROSALINA, TOAD, TOADETTE, TOADSWORTH, YOSHI, BIRDO, CAPPY, TIARA, THEY ARE ALL BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU! YOU DO NOT DESERVE ANYONE'S FRIENDSHIP!"

"But-"

"NO! GET OUT OF MY LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE!"

He pushed Peach away for the final time with such brute force that caused her to fly a few feet backwards and fall on her butt, his last words before leaving forever were, "LOOKING AT SIMON AND RICHTER'S REVEAL TRAILER, I WISH DEATH TOOK YOUR SOUL INSTEAD OF LUIGI'S! OH WAIT, YOU HAVE NO SOUL! GOODBYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYE!"

Mario then drove the Odyssey out of the Mushroom Kingdom as fast as he could, determined to be far away from his pain as possible. The very end of his outburst was what crushed the princess, him wanting her dead, saying she has no soul and even telling her to kill herself was what broke her spirit.

* * *

Toadsworth knocked on her door, "Princess? Would you like some food or water?"

"No thank you."

"Can I come in?"

"Please don't. I need to be alone *sniff* right now."

Understanding, Toadsworth left while Peach kept looking at how things went horribly wrong, how she caused Mario to become a laughing stock on the internet while insisting on making things worse, how Mario treated everyone's attempts to make him feel better like they only fueled the fire and how she only wished she could explain to him that neither Mario nor herself were completely at fault and take back everything that she did to hurt him.

Not only Peach was crestfallen by Mario's emotionally brutal goodbye, Luigi, Daisy, Rosalina, Toad, Toadette, Toadsworth, Yoshi, Birdo, Cappy, Tiara, everyone was all heartbroken by how Mario roared his hatred of everyone and everything in the Mushroom Kingdom before leaving them for dead and even going out of his way to ensure no one ever contacted him again.

The whole Mushroom Kingdom became filled with clouds, gloom and rain ever since. People were filled with fear and despair, some even too scared for their lives to set foot outside their homes. They all knew Mario would refuse to help anyone ever again, so they didn't know who to turn to.

Peach tearfully reminisced about the very place where their relationship went down in flames, how she almost took off without him and inadvertently turned against him and turned him against her, how Bowser...rudely interrupted them and made himself responsible for everything! Of course, this was all Bowser's fault! She knew she had to apologize, she should have been mad at Bowser instead of Mario!

Flashing back, Peach snarled, "Bowser! That bastard! This is all his fault!"

Knowing what had to be done, Peach announced that she was leaving the Mushroom Kingdom for an indefinite period of time and will not come back to the Mushroom Kingdom for unknown reasons (only her friends knew of her true reason) leaving Daisy to run the kingdom and bringing Luigi and her pet Poochy with her to set out on Mario's latest location.

However, Peach first took a detour and paid Bowser a little visit, she banged on his castle door and pulled out a gun when he answered the door, making Bowser put his hands over his head and ask while scared, "Whoa, whoa, Peach. What the heck is going on?"

Screaming, Peach berated Bowser, "Mario hates me because of what you did! Because of you butting in, you drove me to be ungrateful, you made me be mean to Mario and I chose not be sorry until it was too late! YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME, SO NOW I AM GOING TO TAKE EVERYTHING FROM YOU!"

Bowser narrowed his eyes and spoke with agitation, "Ugh. You know, maybe if you just married me like a good princes-"

Interrupting him, Peach blew his brains out and scoffed at Bowser being dead, "Hmph. Good riddance."

* * *

Luigi, Peach and Poochy then searched far and wide for him, asking strangers if they had seen Mario, they managed to find out that he was on Isle Delfino and managed to find him, when they knocked on his front door, he was still hurt from her rejection and therefore was not happy to see her, "Oh, God! You again?!"

She tried to reason with him, "Look, Mario, I know you're still hurt, but-"

"Shut up!"

Luigi said, "Mario, please. She really wants to heal your wounds, she can do that if you let her."

"Heal?! Nothing can heal these wounds! You broke my heart! You've done nothing but act insensitive and rude towards me ever since the ride home! You said you didn't need me and tried to leave me stranded!"

Peach said, "I know and I regret it to this day, I take it all back. I only meant to break Bowser's, not yours."

Luigi said, "Exactly, if he didn't bother you two, things would been aces!"

Peach said, "It's his fault, not ours!"

Mario was unconvinced, "Yeah, I've heard that before."

"It's true!"

"Then why did you attack me too?!"

Peach stammered, "Uh...uh...I...I was..."

"How gullible do you think I am?!"

"We don't!"

"THAT IS ENOUGH! I WANT YOU ALL OUT OF HERE RIGHT FUCKING NOW!"

Peach was desperate, "No, please! We understand your mistrust, but we're here to apologize."

Mario snarled, "Lies! Go find someone else to betray!"

Luigi stood up to him, "We're not leaving until you listen!"

Mario simply pushed his brother to make him fall backwards, shocking him, when Luigi got up, Mario pushed him down again, pointing and shouting, "BE QUIET, YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

"Don't you want to be loved again?"

"I DO NOT NEED LOVE, I DEMAND OBEDIENCE!"

His aggressiveness scared everyone, fire was in his eyes and his skin turned red. Just when things took a turn for the worse, Poochy barked loudly at him, prompting Mario to step on him, but Poochy bit his shoe, but not his foot. This made move his foot around to get him off, Peach grabbed Poochy and calmed him down. Mario looked like he was about to assualt them all by balling his fists and looking like he was gonna kick their asses.

Now, Poochy played the peacekeeper, desperately looking sad in attempt to soften his heart. Mario slowly went from angry to sympathetic with every second he looked at his sad puppy dog eyes, eventually realizing that he couldn't go through with it and sighing, "I can't do it."

Once he calmed down, Peach told Mario, "Mario, I am truly sorry for all of the pain I have caused you. I love you and really want you back. Everyone does because we're all miserable without you."

"Ok, ok. I accept your apology."

Luigi said, "Bowser is responsible for everything. He's the one who ruined your happily ever after. It is he who deserves your anger, not us."

Mario sighed, "Whatever. Anything else?"

Peach nervously admitted, "I...am severely afraid to reveal my feelings for people in fear of once being in a relationship with someone else."

"Seriously? Who?"

"Someone with money, power and fame that taking advantage of others."

Mario thought about it and took an educated guess, "...it's Wario, isn't it?"

"No."

"Captain Falcon?"

"No."

"Cloud Strife?"

"No."

"Max Brass?"

"Please stop guessing."

"Then who?"

"Il Piantissimo. I was threatened with no other choice."

"You mean the guy who likes to race? When was that?"

"Before I met you."

* * *

_Her relationship story began, Il Piantissimo was someone who found himself to be overconfident, superior to others and a creepy rogue. He would beat people in races all the time and taunt those that last, which earned him ire instead of respect and gave the reputation of a jerk. He also obtained millions of coins in winnings, putting him in a position of power, though his fame was mostly infamy. Il Piantissimo also took advantage of others, shoplifting, line cutting, taking stuff from others, refusing to pay at restaurants, making perverted gestures at women despite being in a relationship with Peach and generally just being an arrogant self-serving ne'er do well who thought he was allowed to do whatever the hell he wanted._

_To Peach, he seemed rather bold and confident, but the fame went to his head she began to see him as nothing more than a prick. She even tried to end her relationship with him a few times, but he managed to prevent her, sometimes by making empty promises to change and by threatening her. He never changed and just kept getting worse, making Peach say, "I have to get out of here!"_

_Behind his back, she called the police and bought a plane ticket for the Mushroom Kingdom. When Il Piantissimo was confronted by police in his own home, he told Peach, "You ratted me out?!"_

_Peach grabbed a suitcase and said, "I'm sorry, but you have been an asshole for far too long. I can't take it anymore! I have to go. Goodbye."_

_However, as she walked to the Airstrip, Il Piantissimo chased her, so she ran as cops chased him. She hopped on a boat and blew a raspberry at her ex, but he proved to be expert swimmer, slowly catching up to her. Peach desperately made a leap of faith to the airstrip, almost losing her balance, but she recovered and ran for the plane. Il Piantissimo tried to catch up with her, but he was too late. He screamed at the sky in frustration and was even arrested by police once they caught up with him._

* * *

Peach concluded, "And that's why I'm too hesitant to be in another relationship. I just didn't want to be abused or bullied, but I bullied and abused you. At least let me make it up to you."

Mario was moved by her sad backstory, he put and hand on her shoulder and consoled her and said, "Peach, I'd never to any of those things to you. I care about you. I'm sorry too, if I knew Bowser was going to butt in, I would have backed out. I guess we both made terrible mistakes in our love life. Come here."

The princess tearfully embraced him, sobbing into his shoulder, Mario returned the gesture. They spent the next few minutes hugging it out, thankfully that they had finally forgiven each other.

After a while, Luigi asked, "Does this mean you'll move back? Nobody bought your old house."

Just before he answered, Il Piantissimo returned, stating, "I'm back!"

Mario pointed in front of him and said, "Uh oh. Peach, run. Your ex is back!"

Il Piantissimo stated, "I'm fresh out of jail and I have returned to reclaim what is mine!"

Mario told said, "She's not yours anymore! You and Bowser almost ruined my life!"

"What are you talking about!?"

"She told me all about you! You're a beast, an intolerable egomaniac!"

Peach even added, "At least Mario was willing to admit that he made mistakes and learn from them!"

"No one cares, blondie."

The purple guy then offered Mario, "How about I challenge you to a race. If you win, I'll leave her alone forever, but if you lose, you four will be my slaves, even the dog."

That made Poochy whimper.

Mario said, "...deal."

* * *

The next day, Mario and Il Piantissimo were ready to race, the rule was that the first to reach the entrance to Corona Mountain wins. Peach then started the race, "3, 2, 1, Go!"

Mario ran along the ground, looking for a way up the rooftops. He jumped on some awnings and ran along the rooftops. Il Piantissimo used his parkour skills to wall jump and run even faster across the roofs. They were neck and neck as they climbed the Shine Gate. However, Il Piantissimo did not play fair, when it looked like Mario was getting ahead, he grabbed his leg and climbed him to regain his lead, Mario started climbing faster, but Il Piantissimo pushed and kicked him with his foot, almost making him fall.

When Mario reached the ledge of Corona Mountain's entrance first, that pushed Il Piantissimo to stoop a dirty trick. He grabbed Mario's foot and pulled him back down, making him scream as he fell. Peach cried out, "Mario! No!"

She and Luigi cringed when Mario hit the ground.

Il Piantissimo crossed the finish line first, but as people cheered, Peach pointed out, "He cheated! Il Piantissimo made Mario fall! He didn't win fair and square! Mario could have been killed!"

Everyone was pissed at his cheating, cheering almost instantly turned into booing and they all threw rotten food at him. The race official declared him disqualified and he was arrested again. Poochy carried Mario to the finish line, Mario asked, "I lost, didn't I?"

Luigi said, "Nope. Your opponent was disqualified for cheating. You win."

Everyone cheered in approval, Mario was deemed the decisive victor, Peach ran up to him and hugged him, telling Mario, "I love you, not just as a princess, but also as a person."

"I love you too. I'm coming home, but remember...this is you last chance to not do this again. Don't expect me to be so merciful next time. Also, on the way back, remind me to stop at the nearest hospital, I think my left arm is broken."

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the Mushroom Kingdom, The Odyssey was arriving, Daisy noticed Mario with a cast on his left arm as he was with Luigi, Peach and Poochy and she happily announced to the kingdom, "Mario's back!"

Everyone all arrived to celebrate his return, including but not limited to, Rosalina, Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, Birdo, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Toad, Toadette, Toadsworth, Pauline, Cappy and Tiara. They all ran up to embrace him, Mario was happy to be back home, welcomed back to the kingdom with open arms. Everyone even threw a party at Peach's Castle celebrating his return that night.

* * *

The next day, Mario heard a knock on his front door, Peach gave him a cake box that read, "Welcome home, Mario."

She gave him another one that read, "To make up for last time. Two cakes for the price of one."

Poochy arrived, asking for some belly rubs.

* * *

With amends made and lessons learned, everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom could rest easy, especially with Bowser in hell where he belonged. Mario, Luigi, Peach and all of their friends seemed to be on easy street forever.

THE END


End file.
